John Singer Sargent, Paul Helleu Sketching with His Wife

546 pieces, Heirloom Puzzles.  A new hand-cutter for me! These are small and well-formed pieces in two dimensions, but a noticeable amount of the time the cut wasn't straight up and down so that the pieces would only interlock if you put them together the right way; switch which was up and which down and there'd be no fit.  I liked the challenge in assembling the picture--the colors were subtle--but could have done with more up-and-down cutting.  4/5

Paul Signac, The Port of Saint-Tropez

Liberty, 533 pieces.  I think paintings with slow color shifts make ideal wood puzzles.  The puzzle guides assembly but also provides a way to see how color is used in the painting.  3/5

some of the more notable whimsies

A ship (upside down)

dedicated helper putting in the last piece

Matt Lyon, Monastery

460 pieces, Artifact.  I really enjoy irregular edges, and this had some nice tricks up its sleeve, especially at the top.  The cutting wasn't as crisp as with other Artifacts, unfortunately, making for a few sticky pieces, so it gets only 4/5.

Yellow-Red-Blue, Wassily Kandinsky

Mr. Gogo, 360 pieces. Another beautifully colored and cut puzzle--this one was nice because of the different areas of color that shaded into one another.  5/5

Paris Air France

Liberty, 483 pieces.  I've resisted many of the travel posters, because of the lettering, but actually these have been quite fun to do.  4/5

closeup on some Francophile whimsies

Van Gogh, Bridge in the Rain

Artifact, 267 pieces.  Nice picture, with some nautical multipiece whimsies--dragon and octopus most notable.  3/5

APAK Studio, Harmonious Kingdom

Artifact, 434 pieces. As with many Artifacts, the fun here is the interaction of the whimsies with the picture. Lots of animal parents & babies, touching or near one another.  4/5

Animal whimsies, some upside down for greater clarity--note doe with the hold cut out for her fawn, ditto with the giraffe

Rosemary Lowndes, Le Bistro de la Gare

Puzzlewood, 322 pieces. Mostly interlocking--very nice, as usual.  4/5

Vanity Fair, Feb. 1924

Liberty, 421 pieces.  Nice aquatic themed whimsies n this one. 4/5

Ride the Wave, Treat puzzle

Stave, 190 pieces.  Lovely picture and lovely interpretation--the best thing about these Treats is the way they interact with the underlying art.  8/10.

Evegeny Kuznetsov, Open the Window

400 pieces, Puzzlewood.  Love the cutter, as always, but a little too much push-fit for my taste.  Lovely complicated colors made especially challenging by the push-fit/color line cutting.  4/5

Have a Ball, Betsy Brown

Stave two-sword teaser, 65 pieces.  A nice little puzzle; I wasn't even able to put it entirely together until I'd built the frame! 6/10 Stave scale (in other words, delightful but not the peak Stave experience).

Red Maple

53 pieces, MGC Puzzles.  Beautifully cut, though much smaller than the previous one!  Wonderful irregular edges. 5/5

Tomasz Pietrzyk, Clocks

148 pieces, Artifact.  Double-sided, which is cool, but I wasn't feeling it for some reason.  Whimsies were neat in that some faced one side and others the other side!  3/5